Am I the only one who hears the nauseating high-pitched shrill from the helicopters during aerial shots in bike race broadcasts? What possible reason could they have for opening a mic that just adds horrible noise to the broadcast? Every few years I see a thread somewhere about the helicopter mic being open during aerial shots, but no one seems to mention how horrible the noise is. I have to mute the volume during races when the heli shots come on line because the noise makes me ill. Anyone else have this issue? Even if my ears are extra sensitive, I don't see any reason for adding the noise. It often makes it hard to hear the VO too. Please tell me I am not alone.

Am I the only one who hears the nauseating high-pitched shrill from the helicopters during aerial shots in bike race broadcasts? What possible reason could they have for opening a mic that just adds horrible noise to the broadcast? Every few years I see a thread somewhere about the helicopter mic being open during aerial shots, but no one seems to mention how horrible the noise is. I have to mute the volume during races when the heli shots come on line because the noise makes me ill. Anyone else have this issue? Even if my ears are extra sensitive, I don't see any reason for adding the noise. It often makes it hard to hear the VO too. Please tell me I am not alone.

I've never found it a problem, although now I suspect it will be all I hear! You are right, though. It serves no purpose. I mean, how else do they think we think they get the overhead shots?!

He shook his head sadly and told me that endemic drug use had compelled him to give up a promising career. "Even one small local race, prize was a salami, and I see doping!" - Tim Moore: Gironimo (Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy)

While making the programme, I came across something that really interested me. This was the idea of ‘reality’ in live broadcasting. If we’re actually at an event, what we hear will probably be very different from what the audience at home hears. At the event we might hear little more than the crowds around us, whereas the TV audience will be delivered a manufactured soundtrack created from many elements, just as it is in a drama or a film. As Dennis Baxter says: ‘It’s about creating exciting entertainment, whatever that takes.’ And ‘whatever that takes’ is the key phrase here, for me. Just how far are we prepared to go, to depart from ‘reality’ to make something entertaining?

About 4-5 years ago I was predicting we would soon see drones doing the race filming rather than helos. But it turns out there are a lot of issues. First, and foremost, the helo or drone has to operate over and around crowds of people. Super big safety no-no for ALL of the aerospace regulators - INTERNATIONALLY. They all agree on this. We are not likely to see drones for big races until the tech is a lot more mature. So I'll forecast another 10 years.

We are already seeing drones used to broadcast small races. But they need to be careful - if the regulatory bureaucrats catch wind of it, they may well shut it down. On the other hand, they are understaffed and overworked, so it may be small enough potatoes they shine it on. I also recall one race recently in the news where one of those small drones crashed and caused a cyclist to crash. http://www.marketwitch.com/story/this-drone-crashing-into-a-bike-race-is-every-cyclists-nightmare-2017-05-09Which is exactly why the bureaucrats are concerned about safety. Airplanes and helos have TONS of safety features implemented into how they are built AND flown. Drones, not yet.

We will see drones used for a lot more things before we see them used regularly for broadcast. They already get used for film shots and law enforcement. Real estate uses them. Coming is agriculture, fire-fighting - and more.

They used drones for filming in FIS skiing world cup, one of them fell down a very short distance from Marcel Hirscher, as he was doing his final run, I think it was in Alta Badia in 2015. Air attack is one of the few things that actually could work against that guy!

Of course this is two years ago, and this and that would have been improved but - imagine this falling down over the crowds on an alpine climb in TdF...

We've had a drone filming in Sibiu since (at least) 2014. Back then it was ultra-new technology, the first camera drone I'd ever seen in action.

They only use it for the team presentation, though, and some select spots on climbs - Gura Raului crossroads, Păltiniș final kilometre, Bâlea Lac ITT and similar. And it's only one guy, so he obviously can't cover more than one to a few spots each stage.